Newtown Killer Lived With Cache of Guns

By

Joseph de Avila

Updated March 28, 2013 12:52 p.m. ET

Authorities discovered a cache of weapons and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition when they went to the home of Adam Lanza after he shot and killed 26 people—including 20 students—at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school in December, according to records released Thursday.

ENLARGE

An undated photo of suspected gunman Adam Lanza.
Associated Press

Police seized two rifles, several knives and three samurai-style swords, according to search warrants and affidavits released Thursday morning. Also taken from the Newtown home, which Mr. Lanza, 20 years old, shared with his mother, were three videogame consoles, hard drives and other computer parts.

Investigators recovered four boxes and a bag filled with personal writings and memorabilia from Mr. Lanza's bedroom, along with National Rifle Association certificates issued in the names of both Mr. Lanza and his mother, Nancy Lanza, 52, who was shot and killed by her son, police said. The NRA said in a news release Thursday it had no records that either person had been a member of the gun-rights group.

From the Investigation

Read the five warrants and affidavits released Thursday from the investigation into the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting rampage.

The haul from the Lanza home included two books on mental health—"Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's" and "Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant"—and a pistol-shooting guidebook published by the NRA. Investigators also found a New York Times article published Feb. 18, 2008, about a school shooting at Northern Illinois University that claimed the lives of six people, including the shooter.

The records released Thursday included five search warrants and affidavits filed by police in the wake of the shooting and the days following. The documents included information on what police found during their searches of the home.

President Obama delivers a forceful plea for Congress to pass gun legislation as records from the Sandy Hook shooting investigation describe an arsenal of weapons seized from the suspected gunman's home. Jerry Seib discusses. Photo: AP.

Mr. Lanza began his Dec. 14 rampage by shooting his mother with a .22-caliber rifle while she lay in bed, according to Stephen Sedensky, the state's attorney for Connecticut who is leading the investigation. Mr. Lanza later drove to Sandy Hook Elementary, where he used a .223-caliber model XM15 semiautomatic rifle.

In total, Mr. Lanza fired 154 bullets from the rifle during the school attack before shooting andkilling himself with a Glock 10 mm handgun. The attack took less than five minutes, Mr. Sedensky said.

When police searched Mr. Lanza's home, they found a gun locker belonging to his mother unlocked with no indication that it had been forced open. Police believe the weapons and ammunition used in the attack and those found in the home belonged to his mother.

Inside the home, according to the documents, police found more than 1,600 ammunition rounds for shotguns, several models of rifles and handguns. Authorities also seized a bolt-action rifle, a .22-caliber rifle, a Marksman BB gun and a .22-caliber starter pistol, along with nine knives of varying sizes, and a nearly 7-foot-long pole with a blade on one end and a spear tip on the other. A holiday card found in the search contained a check written by Ms. Lanza that was intended for her son to use to purchase a C183 firearm, according to the documents. It is unclear whether such a firearm model exists. Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police, said the police record of what was confiscated accurately documents what was written on the holiday card and check.

In the search-warrant affidavits, police disclosed an interview with an informant who told authorities that Mr. Lanza was a "shut in and an avid gamer." The informant also said that the shooter "had attended Sandy Hook Elementary School and that the school was Adam Lanza's 'life,' " according to the documents.

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